“Serving God - Part 1”

Thursday, April 17, 2025

Serving God - Part 1

By Gary Watson

“Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe His commands, His laws, His decrees that I am giving you this day.” Deuteronomy 8:11

Being careful - We must be sure that we do not begin to think that all our blessings came to us on their own.  Moses warned Israel not to forget God when they received their blessings.  He knew they would be tempted to become complacent when they lived in their new homes and enjoyed the riches and comforts of Canaan.  He reminds them of God’s faithfulness and how important it is to remain obedient.  Moses further warned them in the phrase, “when you have eaten and are full,” that they would need to remember God and not live with pride and disobedience.

Several Bible verses reminded Israel to remember God’s goodness even in times of abundance when they might be tempted to forget it.  Some examples are:

• “They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt.” Psalm 106:21
• “For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them:” Proverbs 1:32
• “Lest I be full and deny you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.” Proverbs 30:9

It’s tough to get someone who has faith in God to consider the possibility they might also be godless since it seems like a contradiction.  It might help to know we are not talking about a total renunciation of the existence of God.  We are talking about the moments we think, act, respond and make decisions as if God were not real and present in our lives.  Moments where our thoughts or focus on God are replaced by people, circumstances, outcomes, or personal desires.  

Godlessness is a constant challenge due to how easily we can seek the approval of men over God or want to be important in the eyes of men rather than God.  Many times, I’ve made decisions driven primarily by the desire to be liked by people or my peers over pleasing God.  Unfortunately, these challenges also have consequences.

Seeking the approval of men produces hiddenness and deceit.  The desire to be important leads to fear and insecurity, while the desire to be liked can lead to compromise.  These are common challenges for us, that meet the definition of godlessness we are addressing here.  Don’t forget it was the religious leaders Jesus was talking about when he said: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.”  (Matthew 15:8-9)

Though these leaders believed in God, their actions were consistent with someone who did not believe in God.  They worshiped God in vain, meaning it was futile or ineffectual with no real value and to no end.  We all can believe in God and still forget God.

When we do forget God, who do we put our trust in?  When we forget God, what do we replace him with?

(Part 2 next week)

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